This summer has been a busy one, with lots of travelling – which means a lot of time to read but not much time to talk about it. I think I’ve let about four books go by without posting a thing about them. So I thought I’d just mention them briefly because they were all great, though wildly different, and merit a mention.

The first was an Emma Campion galley I won called The King’s Mistress, about Alice Perrers, who became entangled in a web of court intrigue after becoming the mistress of Edward III. I love this type of historical fiction and I’m not all that familiar with this time period so it was interesting to get a chance to learn more about the Plantagenets and Lancasters while seeing through the eyes of a woman who was vilified for her affair with the king. The story was engaging and I really enjoyed it, but when the tension began to mount I didn’t experience the delicious fear and constant anxiety that books like The Other Boleyn Girl evoked. Alice made it plain the many dangers she faced throughout her life but I was more curious about what was going to happen than anxious. The writing itself was beautiful and Alice was a strong and admirable protagonist.

For a change of pace I turned to an urban fantasy that was featured on the Nook’s weekly Free Fridays promotion – the first in Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series, Darkfever. It’s about MacKayla Lane, a woman in her early 20s who travels to Dublin, Ireland after the brutal and unsolved murder of her sister. In the hopes that the local law enforcement will renew their efforts to find the killer if a family member is there in the flesh, Mac settles into the city where her sister’s life was cut short and unwittingly stumbles into a dark and magical world where faeries roam the streets disguised as humans and entire blocks are swallowed from memory. She finds an unlikely partner in Jericho Barrons, a rich and eccentric book store owner with a few mysteries of his own, who tells her that she is a Sidhe seer – someone who can see the fae. Not only that, but she can sense magical artifacts and freeze all manner of fae creatures with one touch. Mac discovers that her sister was also involved with the Sidhe somehow and as she learns more about her abilities and continues the search for her sister’s murderer she becomes all the more bound to Jericho and his quest for an all-important Sidhe artifact that, according to Mac’s sister, is the key to everything. Darkfever was a fast-paced urban adventure with a fantastic array of exotic and dark faeries – and these are no Tinkerbells, mind you. I loved the tension and banter between Mac and Jericho. It was just a lot of fun and great storytelling. I’ll definitely be continuing the series.

Also a Nook Free Friday title, Cry Sanctuary came next. Also an urban fantasy – werewolves this time – and the first in the Red Rock Pass series by Moira Rogers, this book was another speedy, brain candy type of adventure. Werewolf packs live in secret all over the country and most are run by greedy alphas who abuse their position and power and terrorize their subordinates to get what they want. Red Rock is place that provides sanctuary to any wolf who seeks a different way of life. Abigail Adler escapes an abusive alpha with the help of her close friend, who risks everything to get her out of harm’s way, and the two of them find shelter in Red Rock. The story follows Abigail and Keith Winston, a Red Rock wolf newly returned from Europe, fighting in the war between werewolves and wizards, who rescues her and her friend while they’re on the run. As a newly turned werewolf Abby has a lot to learn about her new life and Keith, who is instantly and almost irrationally attracted to her, hopes he will be the one to act as her guide – but it has to be her choice. Keith was my favorite character in the story, I absolutely loved him. Part knight, part cowboy, all badass. And I didn’t hate the hot scenes where Abby gave in to his charms. Can’t say I blame her really. Another really fun urban fantasy and I look forward to the next Red Rock book.

After reading Lamb a few months ago I’ve been dying to read another Christopher Moore book. And of course with my incurable vampire obsession I decided to go with You Suck: A Love Story, which chronicles the new un-life of Tommy Flood after being turned into a vampire by his undead girlfriend Jody. Tommy’s not exactly thrilled with his new situation and as he struggles to come to terms with being a bloodsucking fiend the pair get themselves in all kinds of shenanigans. The ancient vampire who sired Jody is after them (you would be too if you were covered in bronze by Tommy’s biker neighbors and turned into a statue) and Tommy’s former Safeway stockboy co-workers have been compelled by a blue hooker (long story) from Vegas to hunt them down. They decide to accept the dark and brooding (but hopelessly perky) goth Abby Normal to be their minion and run errands for them during the day. There are whole chapters of Abby’s diary that are absolutely hilarious, and luckily since I’m fluent in angsty-teenage-girl-diary-speak I could understand it all with ease and appreciate it from a former angsty teenage diary author myself. The book is a laugh-out-loud witty, outrageous, and ridiculously funny window into the mind of a genius wordsmith. It’s definitely not as emotionally driven as Lamb, although it’s hysterically funny as well, it’s more like a romping adventure. Unfortunately after I finished it I found out that it’s actually a sequel (Love Bites is the first book). I had a sneaking suspicion that it might be, based on all the references to events that felt more like I should already be familiar with rather than backstory. But I’ll just go back and read that one before continuing on with the next book, Bloodsucking Fiends.

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Dionne Said:

Yes, I am loving the Darkfever series! I started the first one last week on your recommendation and they are SO much fun. I finished the first one at midnight and as soon as I read the last page I bought the second one on my Nook to keep going! I love the fast pace and the sexual tension, and I agree with you that the banter is great. Plus it’s always interesting to read about a new twist on fantasy stuff. I’m about half way through the third one right now. I see that there are 4 available, and I am torn between wanting there to be more so the story keeps going because it’s fun and wanting the 4th to be the last one so I can finally find out the answers to the mysteries that keep unfolding. After these I think I may check out Cry Sanctuary on the Nook based on your recommendation as well. Thanks for the great reviews, Jamye!